HubblyBubbly613 Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 BS"D Isn't it about time that the online dealers of hookas, shisha and etc. realize that a bit of market competition and lowering the prices a bit or more will enlarge to them a much much bigger market worldwide? Instead of giving points, bonuses, extras, free shisha etc., we see companies gouging you on shipping, adding extra to the real shipping cost. For those of us living in Third World Countries like Europe, Middle East, Canada etc, we pay so much on shipping anyways. Try opening up a few international SMALL offices. There is such a large market of people who would buy. What do we see as another example? Mr. Ramez Mazzawi of Jordan is the only supplier of "Romman" tobacco, for those of those who enjoy it and are willing to spend a lot, but $19plus per 250.00 grams is way inflated. And only "Hookah-Shisha central" and one other company whosells everything from skateboards to CD's sell for almost $20 and they only have 3 flavors. What kind of competition is it when you can only buy "Romman" which many consider the BEST, from one online com.? Wake up Mr. Ramez Mazzawi in Jordan. What are you smoking in your nargilah? Sell it cheaper to a lot of companies and see your market soar high and profits too. Revolution in our time!! Give Shisha back to the masses! HubblyBubbly613 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highpockets Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Europe and Canada are Third World? Haha, I dont think so. But youre right, a lot of these people don't seem to be the shrewdest businessmen. I have never even tried Romman, although I appreciate premium tobacco, $20 for 250g is outrageous. Most of these companies arent offering anything different than their competitors, so it comes down to price. They should pare that down as much as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uselessdreamer1 Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 well i think they have the idea that you pay for what you get in mind. Romman is a very good and well made ma'assel. Off of that idea they make it more expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypress Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 [quote name='uselessdreamer1']well i think they have the idea that you pay for what you get in mind. Romman is a very good and well made ma'assel. Off of that idea they make it more expensive.[/quote] IMO Romman is a little overpriced. Especially when i Fakher for 10 bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the hookah hitman Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Sorry but I have to disagree with you. High quality simply costs more. If you really know ma'assel, then you have heard of Ra'wan tobacco in Sauda Arabia. They sell it straight from the barrel it is made in. The price is outrageous converted to about $100 for 250g, but people buy it, and love it, and there is a fairy tale lore about the "millionare's ma'assel." If people are willing to pay $19 for Romman, or $100 for a hookah, why drive the prices into the ground? The value of a product is often determined by its price, not vice versa. Take a look at Premium cars. That fake Bentley made by Chrysler was alot cooler until people realized that the are like $30k and then everybody got one. If you don't want to pay $15+ for brands like Romman, Al Quemma, and Ra'wan, then choose from about 10 other brands available, hookah smoking has a place for people of all incomes, but like anything else in life, the best will cost a little extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAP Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Putting Romman and Fakher side by side, I would definately say that Fakher is the better brand yet it can be bought for much cheaper. Romman only have very few flavours worth smoking and is not as consistent as Fakher in quality control or the actual flavours. So hookah hitman, I would have to disagree with you to an extent. Romman should not cost a penny more than Fakher. Of course, the thing about the Ra'wan tobacco is acceptable as nearly all Arabs are very wealthy and for a fresh very high quality ma'assell, it isn't that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uselessdreamer1 Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 holy sh*t! 100 dollars for 250g..... i think ill stick with my al waha and nakhla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the hookah hitman Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Al Fakher should not cost $10, and you will see that it probably won't stay at that price, it should cost about $14-15. Wait 6 months and make my words, the price will go up, or Al Fakher will disappear altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZAP Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Over here in rip off England, they sell 25g of Nakhla and Waha for 2 pounds or $4 and good luck in finding AF. You want some of that you will have to do some long hunting and you won't find it for less than 25 pounds or $50. AF do not do any importing here and most of the people selling it get it themselves from other countries.So I guess I can really relate to what hubblybubbly was originally saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Molson Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 [quote name='HubblyBubbly613']BS"D Third World Countries like Europe, Middle East, Canada etc,[/quote] your so sheltered Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uselessdreamer1 Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 [quote name='Molson'][quote name='HubblyBubbly613'] BS"D Third World Countries like Europe, Middle East, Canada etc,[/quote] your so sheltered[/quote] LMAO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cypress Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Well I have tried quite a few Romman flavors and just because it costs more does not mean that it tasted better that some of the Fakher flavors that I have tried. For me price isnt an object. For me I will just stick to my 10 Fakher that tastes better than most brands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 Now, while I agree that 18 bucks for a 250 of romman is a bit high, you all are thinking like the consumer not like the supplier. Business wise, you chrge what the market will bear. WHY should they drop their prices? so more of you can afford it? I'm willing to bet they are doing fine charging what they do, plenty of people buy it at that price, they are clearly making money at that price or they wouldn't still be in business. If you want it you have to pay what they are charging. If their sales were not what they needed to be, they'd lower it. Another issue is image. Many people, not including the informed tiny percentage of hookah smokers who use this forum, equate price with quality. They automatically look for the most expensive thing out there and get it, thinking if its expensive, it must be good. I'm also willing to bet that many of them have maybe tried Nakhla or some other basic brand and figure the difference is worth it. And really, how many smokes you get out of a 250g? 10? 8? Thats only 2-3 bucks a smoke. You would be hard pressed to find a decent cigar for 2-3 dollars. Heck, I've SPENT $15-20 on a really nice cigar. You spend more than 2-3 bucks on a beer in bar, not counting the tip. We won't even talk about the price of a decent bottle of single malt scotch. You want Ma'asell for the masses, get nakhla, it's 3.99 to 4.99 a 250g box here locally and its what the masses in the rest of the world smoke anyway. Many of their flavours are pretty dang good. You want something fancy for more descerning Western tastes..then be prepared to pay. Sorry many of you are broke college students...but the choice is yours. (For those of you that may not know me, I've sent many a box of ma'asell to the broke college students in this forum, and will undoubtedly send many more. I'm not unsympathetic, just realistic) $.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uselessdreamer1 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 i thank you so much for being such a good forum member. I hav such a variety of ma'assell now i dont know what to smoke next! Hopefully i can be as generious as u when i get a steady job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR Bubble Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 Oh yes. The price we're paying for just Nakhla is way much more than your every day garden variety Egyptian will spend. No, most Arabs are not rich. Just depends on what area you are looking at. Contrairy to popular belief, we don't get taxed on it like we would other tobaccos. I can't really remember the particulars, but maassell doesn't fall into the same category as other tobaccos. We are being gouged with import fees and blah, blah, blah... When I rolled out of Egypt in July 02, I paid 15 Egyptian pounds for a 500 gram pack of Nakhla Strawberry in a grocery store in Sharm El Sheik (one the locals use because the tourist stores are over-priced and the people are dirt-poor) and that 15 Pounds equated to about $4.50. Now, that 15 Pounds to one of the Egyptians is probably more than 15 dollars is to us. Some perspective: In the same town (around the corner from the tourist joints) I could get a falafel sandwich (one big enough to fill you up) and a coke for 1 Pound. That's about 15 or 20 cents to us. How long can a taxi driver eat lunch now? So, for us to pay only $4.50 for 500 grams on EN is some people's pipe dream from Hell (mine too. I do have fantasies) it is also insane for them to sell it for that much AND pay the import cash and Blah, blah, blah. I don't know if you can smell what I'm stepping in here (get what I'm saying) But at that price, it would be a major loss to them. I personally am fine with EN. I have a few other brand's flavors I like too, but the majority of my stash is EN, because I like it, love it and want more of it. Oh yeah baby. MR Bubble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uselessdreamer1 Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 haha ur such a dork... but i agree, El nakhla is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR Bubble Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 [quote name='uselessdreamer1']haha ur such a dork... but i agree, El nakhla is good.[/quote] Now, now. Is that the way to talk to your ol' Uncle Bubble? MR Bubble (Dork) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soup Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 In canada there is a fee of $0.18/g of tobacco...on a 250g tub that costs $20, with shipping added, the total is about $95. Worth it? Hardly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HubblyBubbly613 Posted September 15, 2005 Author Share Posted September 15, 2005 Keef! "Third World Country" was just a slight off-colored joke.I do live in a listed third world country tho. But again if you can afford to pay $100.00 per 250.00 grams it might not make a difference. Who said all Arabs are wealthy?Its not true, from a market standpoint, then "Nakhla" and "Sharouri", "Al-Waha" would go out of business from lack of buyers. (I am not an Arab). Almost all of the replies I saw to the original letter were nicely written, and everyone made some very good, and true points. But..."Romman" tobacco, that Holy Grail, again is only sold by one supplier Mr. Ramez Mazzawi from His Majesty's Kingdom of Jordan, to "Hookah-Shisha Central" with all their flavors, and that other place (I forget the name) for a $1 more with only 4 flavors available. I made an order to "Hookah-Shisha Central" in the past for a nice shippment of "Romman", international shipping, which takes 7 days normaly to get past Customs to my house. They upped the shipping price, but I agree with most people that if its good, you pay more. After waiting 6 weeks for the package to arrive and checking customs, mail, etc, it never came and I was hassled by them the whole time.I felt grateful in my heart for their refund of my money. Main Point: lets see a few more companies selling the good tobaccos, not one only with no competition. Hubbly Bubbly 613 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the hookah hitman Posted September 15, 2005 Share Posted September 15, 2005 H-S is the exclusive agent for Romman and all other retailers have to buy direct from their wholesale sister company. There is no way to lower the price on that product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HubblyBubbly613 Posted September 16, 2005 Author Share Posted September 16, 2005 [quote name='the hookah hitman']H-S is the exclusive agent for Romman and all other retailers have to buy direct from their wholesale sister company. There is no way to lower the price on that product. [/quote] You've proved the point, Hitman.No competition is there?Are Mr. Sammi Romman and Mr. Ramez Mazzawi smarter than "Al-Fakher"? "Yokels in the Big City". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Just different marketing strategies from Romman to AF. Each has found it's niche and each is probably doing well in that niche. I repeat, why should a company thats obviously doing well selling their product at 18-20 bucks a box lower their prices? So you can get their product cheaper? if you want it, you get to pay their prices. Companies don't work that way a fear. Now you guys want to start your own quality ma'asell company and sell it at a cheap price, I'll buy some. $.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lakemonster Posted September 16, 2005 Share Posted September 16, 2005 Theres only one way to drive down the price on anything..... Reduce the demand. Only one way to reduce the demand..... dont buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highpockets Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Well, increasing supply will drive down the price too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR Bubble Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 I hate to say it, but you guys are analyzing this too much. Though it may be interesting to see the prices of this 10 years from now, provided the Government doesn't dork with it too much. Who knows, it may be like the VCR, color TV and rounded car windshields since this is a new "novelty" in the western world. The price can go either way. MR Bubble Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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